The Fear Strategy is Working

Whispering in the Wind (WITW 62) January 28, 2015

Measuring and judging the political mood of Canadians during unusual times is and never has been an easy task.  Actually, the most accurate measure of the country’s political mood is to have an election and by law, Canadians are going to have one in 2015 although there is some debate as to when Prime Minister Harper will drop the writ.  Between elections, “customer satisfaction” is measured by political opinion polls and the resulting assessments by pollsters and pundits.  An opinion poll undertaken by the Ipsos research group in January, 2015 gives Steven Harper’s Conservatives an approval rating of 35 percent, with Justin Trudeau’s Liberals garnering 31 percent and Thomas Mulcair’s New Democrats at a relatively stable 24 percent.  While this single opinion poll does not necessarily indicate a trend toward the Conservatives, it does indicate a possible danger signal for the Liberals.  In my view the Ipsos poll shows a significant if not a dramatic shift away from Justin Trudeau and the Liberal Party of Canada – a loss of seven points in a matter of five months.

On the Road to a Majority, the Harper Way    

About a year ago the Harper government was in real difficulty – largely due to the Senate Scandal and Mr. Harper’s objectionable, if not disrespectful attitude toward Canada’s parliamentary system in the House of Commons and the Senate – and not to be forgotten, Mr. Harper’s inappropriate, uncalled for confrontation with the Supreme Court of Canada’s Chief Justice.  As well there are a good number of economic and environmental issues that have been bungled and magnified by the collapse in the international oil pricing system – the inability to settle the Keystone XL pipeline issue with US President Obama; the lack of a Canadian national energy strategy in light of seven months of declining oil prices and the consequences of the low Canadian dollar in building a stronger, more sustainable national economy.   Not to be discouraged and facing an election in the months ahead, Mr. Harper decided to make a strategic shift in his approach to domestic issues, ignore them and if and when necessary, frame everything in terms of Canada’s security and the fight against terrorism – the result, his new approach to electioneering and it’s working.